Beneath a great Banyan tree, big feelings find somewhere to go.
HeartLight: Yoga Tales follows six young friends learning what to do with jealousy, worry and courage — one breath at a time, guided by Ojas the owl.
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Welcome to HeartLight School
Under the oldest Banyan tree anyone can remember lives Ojas the Owl — a gentle, violet-eyed teacher who has been waiting for the right students to arrive.
Here, lessons aren't about spelling or sums. They're about jealousy and courage, belonging and finding your voice. And Ojas's very first lesson is the most surprising of all: your first friend has been with you since the day you were born. It's your breath.
Every chapter closes with a "Your Guide" — a named breathing practice and a yoga pose families can try together, emerging naturally from the story, never like homework.
Seven friends. Seven inner lights.
Each friend at HeartLight School carries one of the seven ancient energy centres — the chakras — mapped from the roots of the tree to its crown. Children simply meet friends who feel the way they do; the wisdom works quietly underneath.
Five-thousand-year-old answers to very today problems
The chakra system and yogic breathwork come from India's oldest wisdom traditions. HeartLight translates them into stories a child can feel — because the problems children face today are ancient at heart.
Overwhelm
Screens, noise, and busy days leave children wound-up with no off switch.
The breath. Pranayama — simple breathing — is the off switch children carry everywhere. Every chapter ends with a practice families can do together.
Big, unnamed feelings
Jealousy, anger, and worry live in little bodies with no words attached.
The chakra map. Seven centres give feelings a place to live in the body — so children can name them, find them, and breathe with them.
Looking outside for answers
Children learn early to seek approval, likes, and comparison.
Looking within. In every story, the answer is never outside the friend who needs it — yoga's oldest teaching, told warmly enough for a child to keep.
More than a story — a practice you share
Fully illustrated, six chapters, works as a bedtime read or a classroom SEL resource.
Named, teachable tools
Every chapter closes with a "Your Guide" section — a named breathing practice and a yoga pose, no equipment or experience needed.
Never like homework
Practices emerge naturally from the story itself, so the technique lands as part of the adventure — not a lesson bolted on afterward.
Classroom-ready
Built by a certified children's yoga instructor, so the tools are the same ones taught in real classrooms — a repeatable curriculum, not just a nice read-aloud.
This is the book I wish had existed
I'm Vandana — a certified children's yoga teacher living between Jacksonville, Florida and Kolkata, India. HeartLight grew from my own years as a young mother, holding feelings I didn't yet have the tools to name, and watching my children carry feelings that deserved better than silence.
These stories are what I found on the other side of that journey — India's oldest wisdom, made warm enough for a child to hold. Illustrated with love by Alisha Balasaria.
— Vandy
Get the Calm Kit — free today
Seven tools for seven big feelings: one breath, one pose and one line to say, for the meltdown, the quiet after school, the tablet fight and the test tomorrow. Straight from Vandy's own classroom.
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